Strong opposition to UK data sharing clause

The UK government is facing strong opposition to the clause in a draft Bill currently being debated in Parliament that removes barriers to data sharing between government departments to support improved public services. Justice Secretary Jack Straw is being called upon to remove the 'information sharing orders', aka clause 152, from the Coroners and Justice Bill. The British Medical Association has said that the whole profession is concerned for doctor/patient confidentiality, because the clause allows information obtained for one purpose to be used for another, with limited justification. Opposition also comes from such weighty quarters as Liberty, GeneWatch UK, Patient Concern, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and the British Computer Society. Further, the Information Commissioner wants 'much stronger safeguards' in the bill to protect sensitive data, particularly health records. He has made a number of criticisms in an updated commentary on the Coroners and Justice Bill (outlined in Volume 9, Issue 4 of Privacy & Data Protection.) A copy of the ICO's commentary is available from the ICO's website.

Source: PDP Data Protection News

Call for Comment: ARMA International's Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles

ARMA International’s Board of Directors has approved a set of generally accepted recordkeeping principles (GARP) for member and public comment. These principles will serve as a framework for guidance in implementing information management programs. The defined set of principles will help business leaders, legislators, the judiciary, and other stakeholders understand and adress the key components of records and information management as a discipline and as a best business practice.

You can view and comment on the proposed principles at www.arma.org/GARP. Please use the e-mail address at the bottom of each page (garp@arma.org) for any comments regarding the supporting principle narratives. The comment period for GARP will end on Friday, March 6.
On behalf of ARMA International and the profession, thank you in advance for your participation in this exciting endeavor.

Offer to ARMA Members: Discounted Rate on RMS Conference

ARMA is pleased to announce that it is supporting the annual conference of the Record Management society of Great Britain which will take place on 19-21 April in Brighton (UK). As a result, ARMA members are able to register at the same rates as RMS members:

For more information on the conference and the conference programme, please visit http://www.rms-gb.org.uk/conference.To book, please visit http://www.rms-gb.org.uk/conference-delegates-2009, select the member rate and mention the word 'ARMA' when asked for a membership number on the booking form (only the word not the quotes). ARMA will also be present at the exhibition with a booth.

EU Data protection group publishes pre-trial discovery guidance

The Article 29 Working Party, an EU data protection watchdog, has published a guidance document on pre-trial discovery for cross border civil litigation.

This working document provides guidance to data controllers subject to EU Law in dealing
with requests to transfer personal data to another jurisdiction for use in civil litigation. The
Working Party has issued this document to address its concern that there are different applications of Directive 95/46 (Data Protection Directive) in part as a result of the variety of approaches to civil litigation across the Member States.

In the first section of this document the Working Party briefly sets out the differences in
attitudes to litigation and in particular the pre-trial discovery process between common law
jurisdictions such as the United States and the United Kingdom and civil code jurisdictions.

The document goes on to set out guidelines for EU data controllers when trying to reconcile the demands of the litigation process in a foreign jurisdiction with the data protection obligations of Directive 95/46.

Download the full document here: http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/fsj/privacy/docs/wpdocs/2009/wp158_en.pdf

Fresh start for lost file formats

Long lost file formats could soon be resurrected by pan-European research.
The 4.02m euro (£3.58m) project aims to create a universal emulator that can open and play obsolete file formats.

Read the entire article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7886754.stm

Deutsche Bahn accused of spying on own staff

Deutsche Bahn is in deep trouble. Not only has the state-owned operator had to postpone a recent planned part-privatisation because of the financial crisis., the BBC reports. Now it is also accused of spying on its own staff.

Berlin's data protection commissioner and prosecutors are currently conducting an investigation into the affair over any breaches of data protection.

Read the article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7887017.stm

ARMA Foundation Newsletter

Check out the latest newsletter of the ARMA Educational Foundation here: http://content.delivra.com/etapcontent/ARMAInternationalEducational/March09FoundationHighlights.pdf